Stargate Universal Sin Episode 11 Finale
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: The Wraith are here, the Asurans are coming, Atlantis is caught in the middle and the only hope is to pull the universe's biggest fake out ever. But they won't be alone... they'll never truly be alone. Finale to Universal Sin.
1. Chapter 1

**Episode 11 (Finale)– Universe**

_**A/N:**__ Whew… finally done. I've been up all night writing this… I think it turned out well :D Final Author's notes go into more detail... and also contains a teaser ;) I hope you all enjoy this :D_

**------------------------------**

Sam woke when she felt the cold, her eyes felt heavy as if she hadn't slept enough. Taking a look at the glowing clock on a nightstand nearby, she could see that it had only been about 4 hours.

John had sat up, his breathing heavy and his sweat cold. Sam wasn't exactly used to sleeping next to someone, but she could tell he was _very_ bothered. "_John… what's wrong_?"

"_Everything."_

A little surprised by his quick reply, Sam simply stayed where she was lying on the bed, unsure of whether or not to try and console him. "…I know what you mean…"

A sigh left his mouth, and a rueful voice. "…maybe…but not... _everything…_"

He was hurting, that much was obvious. Sam finally forced herself to get up and put an arm around him. "What is it?" To her surprise, John began to snake his arm around her, but just as quickly he drew back as if scared. "What's wrong?"

John took long controlling breathes even as he now trembled slightly. _"I… I-I-I don't think I love you Sam…"_

Now fully awake, Sam did a small double take before replying softly. "…Uhh… John…? What are you talking about?"

The Lieutenant Colonel sighed and winced hard. He pressed his palms into his eyes to try and bury what he was feeling. "I…I don't know what I feel about you... I… I need you to know that."

Grimacing, Sam realized that he was going to talk about _that. _"…John… this isn't really the time…" Turning suddenly John pulled her closer. Sam groaned softly suddenly worried about what this meant. "_John… please…this... this can't go any further..."_

Completely confused over his… well that was just it… _were_ they _his_ feelings? "If I don't tell you this _now_… I'm scared I'll never get the chance…"

Sam closed her eyes and braced herself. This was going to be a hard moment and she forced herself to simply endure it. "…_Okay… okay…"_

John blew a hard breath and stared at Sam's mouth, unable to look her in the eyes yet. "_You know what it's like to share with an ascended… Rodney didn't share himself… but he showed me… he let me __feel__ what he felt…" _Now looking at her eyes, they said everything his mouth couldn't. _ "...everything…"_

Sam didn't have any words to that. Was all this…? _No…_ they were already feeling this _before_ Rodney… well… before he did _whatever_ he did to John. "John… Rodney didn't ask me to go to a carnival… Rodney didn't help me keep these people on the base when the IOA wanted to get rid of them…Rodney didn't drink beer and talk with me when I really needed a friend."

John turned to Sam and stared at her longingly. "… I… I don't know where I end and he starts… I…" John gulped hard and his hand came up to Sam's face. "_I care about you… a hell of a lot more than I should… Before Proculus… I knew what that meant...and what it was… but now?"_

Sighing, Sam shook her head _"…I care about you too… I really do... but I don't think I love you either…"_

Silence, it was a strangely relieving admission to finally have it in the open. John pulled Sam into a hug as he sat up and rubbed her back gently. Sam gasped softly and inhaled a long breath. "…I-I should go….I'm…I'm not... _comfortable_…"

It was obvious to John that she was lying, and it wasn't just the way her socked toes were curling up beside his legs. He held her in place as she tried to move. "No… you _are _comfortable…" John paused for a moment. "…_and that's the problem…_"

Sam took a deep breath and nodded as she felt his body pressed up against her. A part of her wanted to run away, but more wanted to stay right where she was. "… _yeah… yeah that's the problem alright…: _Sam closed her eyes hard to hold back the tears. She felt so horrible for admitted she liked this. "_…_We need to focus… this_… __this__ can't happen now."_ Sam pulled his hand away from her face, squeezing it even as it settled. _"…_we never should have let it get this far._"_

John nodded, and fighting her hand he brought it to her face again. "You're right… we _shouldn't_ have… but we _did_… and we _both_ know why."

Suddenly horrified, Sam pushed away and rubbed her face to hide the tears. It was exactly what Jack had told her… except it meant the exact opposite. "No… _No…! No this-this…this can't happen…! I-I can't deal with this…! I can't fucking deal with you John…!"_

Taking her hands, John pulled her back towards him. Sam shook her head the entire way but couldn't fight him as he pressed his lips to hers, his hands slipping around her body pressing their bodies together.

She resisted for a second, but then parted her lips and met his tongue. The shiver of ecstasy crept along her spine, following the same movements his fingers did along the small of her back.

He stopped after a moment and pulled his head away. Both were breathing heavily and concentrating on their every movement. John whispered as he bowed his head. "…_I hate that you make me feel like this."_

Sam blinked and did a double take at the way he seemed to mimic her own feelings. "_You… god I…I feel the same way you… you __bastard__…" _Letting herself go limp, Sam hugged John and sniffled softly. _"…this isn't over… but I'm too tired to do this now… I… let's just…forget about it for now… please." _

Neither said another word, and after a few moments John pulled Sam back down and cuddled her close, kissing her neck softly before finally passing out one last time.

--------------------------

"…Dial the gate Chuck."

Taking a deep breath, Chuck tapped the buttons and dialed a direct wormhole to the SGC. The first group of evacuees was in the gateroom under heavy guard.

Sam stood behind him with one hand on his shoulder. Chuck monitored the status of the wormhole as it bridged the gap between their galaxies and ate up a small amount of the power from their three ZPMs. "Wormhole established… receiving radio signals."

Gulping, Sam winced and spoke softly. "Open a channel…" A click confirmed it, and Sam spoke eloquently and with strength… something that was surprisingly hard to do at that moment. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter from Atlantis calling the SGC. Do you read?"

From one gate tech to another, Chuck noted the incoming data burst with Walter's signature on it. "They read… probably getting General Landry."

Sam nodded and motioned to Larrin who stood by the stairs to the gate room. The Traveler Woman nodded and gave quiet orders to her men as Sam waited patiently.

A few seconds passed, and General Landry's face appeared on the screen before them. "Colonel Carter. This is a bit of a surprise. What's the issue?"

Sam decided that it would be best to get it over quickly, so she remained as tactful as possible. "We're going to be evacuating the base sir… I've got the first group waiting to go through."

Landry's eyes went wide. "What? Evacuating? What's going on there?"

"The Wraith have created a new Hive that is more than a match for Atlantis. Our theory is they plan to use it to steal the city and gain Earth's Address."

The General's eyes became cold and after a moment he turned to Walter sitting next to him. "Open the Iris… let them through." He turned back to Sam. "What are your plans for the refugees and the Travelers…? I'm under strict IOA orders not to let anyone but people Woolsey clears through."

Sam tightened her features and remembered the moment when she decided that the IOA was no longer worthy of her loyalty. Larrin had come to trust her in that moment and now Sam had to push forward. "We have succeeded in stealing 3 ZPMs from the Asurans. We're going to be taking off and trying to hide from the Wraith and Asurans…"

Landry narrowed his eyes examining her. "…Is that all?"

Obviously Landry knew Sam from their years of working together. Sam sighed and lowered her head. "No sir… you can ask the men and women coming through now for the details, but I as well as certain members of this expedition have decided to stay and try and safeguard Atlantis."

Without much hesitation, Landry growled. "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"…We're taking the city and with the help of the Travelers… we're leaving Pegasus."

Landry didn't show any emotion. His breathing remained calm even as a few people in the background looked at each other in surprise. "I assume you're not coming to the Milky Way?"

"No sir… There's too much risk that the Wraith will be able to track us. With their superhive… That craft was powerful enough to defeat 6 Asuran Auroras on its own with only moderate damage. Daedalus is crippled beyond a quick repair and is dry docked for the time being."

General Landry ground his teeth. "And what does Mr. Woolsey think about this?"

"Mr. Woolsey…" Sam had to struggle not to curse his name out loud. Her only consolation was that the Politician had the last 2 days of being tied up in a closet been only getting bathroom breaks and meals as respite. "… is not in favor of this plan. But he no longer holds any authority on this base. He will be sent along shortly."

On General Landry's side, all of a sudden Major Teldy appeared with a half scowl. She quietly whispered into the General's ear whose eyes opened wide as the seconds passed. "…Colonel Carter?"

"Yes sir."

Landry's voice was a muted hostile sarcasm. "Would you mind explaining why Major Teldy is under the impression that you and Colonel Sheppard have orchestrated a coup and taken over the city?"

Sam gulped, and took a long deep breath before replying. "No sir… I don't feel the need to explain myself."

----------------------------

"Okay… So you _did_ go with my idea?"

Mila shook her hand in front of her face in a _sorta_ gesture. Where she'd picked up the earth gesture was a mystery. "Kinda, we've been up all night hooking our generators to our ships shield emitters as well as directly to the city's working plasma defense batteries."

John raised an eyebrow. "Plasma defense batteries?"

Radek over at the side of the chair room nodded, though he looked exhausted. "Yes Colonel… they were damaged from when we came here and even if they weren't, we were never able to properly use them as they took up too much power and their range in atmosphere is quite limited. The Travelers were able to repair a few of them using spare parts from their Aurora. You'll have access to them just as you do the Drone Launchers."

John had gotten past all his insecurities about doing this. As strange as it was, he felt more at ease riding face first into certain doom than waking up next to Sam Carter. "Cool."

Radek rolled his eyes and mumbled something in Czech while Mila snickered. "It _is _cool. And if you'll actually sit down for a minute…?"

John acquiesced and sat down on the ancient control chair. Instantly he could feel two new systems popping up in the interface. "_Whoa_… okay… I'm guessing those're the new turrets you've activated and…" accessing the new system, John suddenly got a slight pain in the side of his head and let go of the interface. "…_Ach_…_!_ _Oowww! _That's… that's a hell of rush!"

Mila nodded and made some notes on the tablet she had. "Yeah… that's the wormhole drive. Radek said it should feel…" She furrowed her brow to Radek off to the side. "What'd you say? Like an _elle-funt_ stepped into your head?"

John scoffed at the analogy, though apt it was. "_Elephant…_ and yeah… felt something like that…" he winced, shook his head into clarity. "The ZPMs are working fine… but I noticed only the main towers are getting power… I'm gonna guess that's on purpose?"

Radek nodded and squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Yes yes… in preparation for wormhole drive we've shut off power to all systems but lifesupport and shielding. That has raised our shield strength to 40 percent. In conjunction with the ships overcharged emitters, 85 percent of the city will be protected from the top, while only the city's shield will protect the bottom."

Furrowing his brow, John sighed knowing that only hours remained. "Better than nothing I suppose… Now fill me in on this wormhole drive… how do I… _activate it?"_

-----------------------------------

"So… you're happy with this?"

Marks didn't meet his former commander's gaze. "Of course not… but you know what leaving would mean."

Caldwell sighed, and his growl showed his position. "Yeah… but I hope you realize you're ruining my command."

Marks gulped, and then pulled a minidisc out of his pocket. "There's my letter of resignation… says you were the best commander I've ever served… cites examples too. Recommends you for Phoenix once it's built too."

Caldwell looked at the disc, and didn't take it. "This supposed to make it even?"

Marks finally couldn't take it and stared back. "Not in the slightest… but I don't have the clout to argue with the IOA… We might be running… but I'm trusting _you_ to fight for us too."

The older Colonel furrowed his brow in confusion. "What?"

The younger Major nodded and handed Caldwell the disc again. "Colonel Carter is the only one going who would have had any real clout on her own… and we both know why she can't go back. We're leaving it to you, Lorne, Teldy… and even Woolsey if he's partially human to explain why we're doing this."

Caldwell sighed, being a hardass could get difficult especially during the moments of truth like this. "…You really think I'm the best commander you've had?"

Marks nodded and smiled. "Daedalus is crippled… and I'll spend the rest of my life taking care of her. If we ever make it back to Earth she'll be all yours again."

"_If?_ Exactly where are you going?"

A heavy sigh, and Marks shook his head idly. "You know how you hated the 3 weeks in the void?"

"Yeah…"

"Imagine 2 years… _with_ a ZPM."

Caldwell's eyes went wide. "…_How the hell_ are you going to do that?"

Marks motioned with his head, and the two Traveler guards behind Caldwell prepared to move out. "You'll find out anyway… so I might as well tell you what I can before we send you back…"

"What? _Now?_ You're going to send us back _now?_"

Marks nodded and waved Caldwell on. "Yeah… We're taking off in a few hours and I wanted to give you a quick pitstop."

"Where?"

A smile crossed Marks' face, one of the nicer things he'd get to do in the next few days. "Daedalus… I'm sure you've got stuff in your quarters you don't want to lose."

Caldwell growled softly. He may have underestimated the integrity of his second in command… but Caldwell could never hold it against him.

-------------------------

Amelia groaned as Reyna bandaged her ankle and handed her an icepack. "I guess I should thank you…"

Reyna rolled her eyes. Amelia was the fifth Atlantean to try and escape and her small stature had given her a great element of surprise. "That's alright… you might want to apologize to Alwin though… 20 stitches from a kick? That's impressive."

Amelia rolled her eyes, then winced as Reyna forced her ankle to it's proper position. _"Ow!_ Yeah well… wasn't expecting him to take me down with him."

Despite the injuries to her own comrade, Reyna had long since become friends with many Atlantis personnel. Amelia was one of the good ones and she was saddened at the thought of never seeing her again. "Next time, try and kick someone who's not standing next to a staircase."

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"We're sending the next group through… Major Lorne is among them and has our last supply run to you."

Sam was trying to keep things civil. The less she looked like a raving mad lunatic, the more likely the IOA would have problems attacking her actions and those who were formerly under her command. Landry on the other end didn't look that pleased. "I'm not going to bother trying to convince you to come back, but you need to know that this is going to be a _very_ black mark on the Air Force."

Nodding, Sam sighed. "I know… but this is something I have to do. Have you gone over the list of people staying?"

"Yes Carter… and I have to say I'm a little surprised. I know the 304 program will miss Major Marks."

Sam shrugged, by acting as if it didn't bother her it would help to continue the lie she'd been coming to believe. "With the data Doctor Jackson has sent back, you should be able to increase the…"

"Without _you_ here… I don't think anyone on the planet is going to understand it."

Shaking her head in a strange sense of appreciation and guilt, Sam gulped knowing that this was really it.

Below in the gateroom, the third group of Atlantis Personnel were being sent through, Major Lorne was at the rear of the pack, his vest gone and only BDU's keeping him military looking. John waved to the Travelers guarding the procession to stop and he motioned Lorne to walk up to him. "Major!"

The stocky man stopped, and after a moment of hesitation looking at John with a big metal case, he stepped forward to him. "What do you want?"

John noted that he didn't use the honorific, but it wasn't like he expected it. "You missed me twice Evan… once I put to shock… twice is you missed on purpose."

The Major shifted uncomfortably, his gaze back towards the gate. "Is that all?"

Taking a second to himself, John decided that he'd give his loyal,… _so loyal_… second in command one last chance. "No… I've got a ZPM here I want you to give to General Landry. But if you want it, there's something you need to do for me."

Raising his eyebrows, Evan looked at the case and then back at John. His tone a little south of even and heading towards ire. "The hell are you talking about?"

"I want you to hit me hard enough to get my blood on you."

Even the Travelers nearby were stunned by John's words. Evan took a few seconds to digest it before replying. "Sir?.. wha…?"

John scoffed softly and shook his head idly. "Think Major… you missed me _twice._ You think the IOA isn't going to find out? They'll bury you in so much court-martial you'll be lucky to get a job flying tourists in a carnival! They find out you hit me and they'll think twice... i still need you to fight for these people... even if it means striking your superior officer."

Evan sighed and winced as he swallowed the harsh truth. "Well what do you care about Earth now?"

John clicked his jaw and sighed angrily. "Enough bullshit Evan…! If you don't want to come with us that's fine… but don't pretend the IOA is your bosom buddy because I know you better than that... unless you were really a fucking sheep all these years and..."

At the goading, Evan brought his right hand up in a backhand hard enough to split John's lip and send him back to the floor. The Travelers around him were unsure of what to do, and the few people who hadn't gone through the gate yet were forced through despite wanting to see what was happening.

John had fallen back from the hard strike, and he sat on his butt that now probably had a bruise. He used his hand to wipe away the trickle of blood, then scoffed in a laugh. "Knew there was a reason I liked you…"

Evan held back his emotions and with the same hand he'd just struck John, offered the man a hand up. "I know it's corny… but it's been an honor to serve with you… these people are going to need someone to deal with the IOA and…"

Accepting his hand, John pulled himself up along with the metal case. "Anything I can do 'fore you go?"

Evan accepted the case with the ZPM in it, looked at his hand now covered with John's blood, and smirked thinking about a secret he'd spent awhile keeping. "..Yeah… tell Cadman I'll miss her ass."

Raising his eyebrows. John started chuckling. "Will do…" He snapped a sharp salute to the Major.

Major Lorne returned the salute, and within moments vanished into the event horizon thinking he would never step foot on Atlantis again.

-------------------------

Laura was willing to follow pretty much any order Sheppard or Carter gave her now. _(Well… not __anything__ but for the most part they gave the orders she agreed with.) _ _This_ was certainly one she enjoyed. "Cheer up _Dick_! You're going home which is a _much_ better fate than I'd give you."

Woolsey, unshaven and still disheveled from 2 days being locked in this storage closet _(Since they were technically not a part of Earth's forces anymore. Laura could agree with Sheppard's angered tossing of him in here.)_ looked up and scoffed softly. "You're my executioner?"

Laura rolled her eyes and motioned for the Travelers behind her to move in. "Take him…"

The burly guards moved in and quickly grabbed a hold of the politician, Once he was on his feet, he slapped them away and tried to make himself look presentable. "I can walk thank you very much…" He was obviously still angry.

Behind Laura, Larrin stood smiling evilly at the bald headed politician. "You're lucky Sheppard talked me out of what I wanted to do to you. If it weren't for him you'd have begged me to listen to everything you know by the time I was through."

Woolsey didn't seem afraid and looked to Laura. "_This_ is who you'd rather follow?"

Laura smirked and motioned with her head. "Start walking before I start thinking like her."

Larrin turned to Laura and smiled gleefully. She'd found her prankster soulmate and had been looking forward to this. Woolsey didn't see them wink and nod to each other and the next thing Woolsey knew, Larrin's somewhat pointed boot _'gently'_ tapped Woolsey on the behind drawing a light yelp from him. "Next time it'll hit harder and sharper, _Move!"_

Woolsey relented and move ahead eyes forward with his hands out to the side in surrender. He was led down the hallways the entire time silent.

Eventually, Laura had enough of the suspense and decided to actually take him where Sheppard asked him to come. With Larrin beside her holding in her giggles, they led the nervous man up to the control room and into the Commander's Office with the blinds drawn.

Laura shoved Woolsey inside, then cracked up and looked to Larrin. "I think I'm gonna like this freedom."

Larrin smiled and motioned for her to follow. "Come on, they won't be long and this is gonna be fun to watch."

The two women moved off, leaving a very nervous Richard Woolsey inside Samantha Carter's office with both Sam and John inside, both armed with Particle Magnums. Though John looked menacing enough with his bloody lip and bruised cheek. "I'd say welcome… but I looked it up and the meaning of the word is not at all what I want to say to you."

Woolsey raised an eyebrow to John. "I hope you realize that by assaulting me and betraying Earth and the Air Force that you will never set foot on Earth again unless it's in handcuffs."

John chuckled and sat down on the comfy looking couch. "The last time I was on Earth I lost everything that I might miss…" he gave Sam a silent look and lost a bit of his smile. "…I'm not going to kill you. In fact… I want you to do us a favor."

Woolsey gave them both a disbelieving look. "You're serious? You seriously expect me to comply with your demands? Once I get back, I have no doubt that Earth will send Odyssey to retake the city from you."

Sam smiled and leaned forward. "That's what we want to tell you… Don't bother. One of two things is going to happen in the next 8 hours. Either we're all going to die and no one will ever know how… or we'll be more than half a million light years away."

Woolsey hid his surprise, the bureaucrat inside him taking control. "Seeing as it takes three and a half weeks to travel three million light years… forgive me if I'm a little skeptical."

"Well it doesn't matter if you believe us or not." John was surprisingly calm and even enthusiastic about this,

Sam seemed more reserved as she sat behind her desk. "We brought you here so we could ask you a very direct question… and I expect a very direct answer."

"Very well… since you seem to have regained civility I'll answer one question."

John took a deep breath and looked to Sam. They'd decided that she would ask so Woolsey would be more willing to listen. Sam cleared her throat and made it quick. "My question is this… do you personally agree with the IOA's orders to evacuate the refugees to the mainland and only allow the Traveler Engineers and Command staff to Earth?"

Woolsey took a few moments to himself, he looked to both renegades and after a full 5 seconds replied tersely. "No."

Both renegades sighed softly. It was the answer they wanted. John winced and held his hand up in ire. "Then _why_ did you order us to do that?"

"Because while I may not _agree_ with everything the IOA says… they're still the best government and control we have for this program."

Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head. "If you'd asked me that same qustion before you gave me the order to send our ZPMs to Earth… I would have said the same. But no _bureaucracy _willing to let a galaxy worth of people die because they can't see it first hand is worthy of my loyalty…" Those words were _so_ hard to say Sam wondered how long she'd lost this aspect of her humanity.

Woolsey remained silent; simply staring back at Sam. John grunted and shook his head. "Exactly… so what we want you to do is explain to your IOA masters that if they want to prevent other people from doing this sort of thing… they might want to rejoin the human race."

"I… will report on what I've seen." Woolsey said it tactfully, not giving his opinion away one way or the other.

John finally looked to Sam and nodded gently. Sam blew a long sigh as she stood. "Very well… Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard."

"Yes Ma-am?"

Sam took a moment to stare at Woolsey and put as much of her stress on her next words. "Take the trash out would you please?"

Woolsey narrowed his eyes in offense, but seeing John stomp over to him felt threatened. "Th-th-this is madness!"

Fighting the serious urge to mimic King Leonidas, John instead just grabbed the politician by the collar and dragged him out the door wordlessly. As soon as he crossed the bridge, everyone inside was surprised by how rough he was handling him. "Dial Earth!"

Woolsey breathed a silent sigh of relief. At the very least he wasn't stranded here.

John heard the gate wind up and continued pushing Woolsey along. The man finally recovered from the shock and began their last conversation. "Don't you regret this? You'll never see your home or family again!"

"_This IS_ _my home! These people ARE my family!" _It was strange to everyone around them, John had never been openly furious before and it scared them to see it. The Gate whooshed open and John turned back to the control room above them. "Open a channel! Get me General Landry!"

No acknowledgment, but a moment later Landry's voice came in angrily. "_Colonel Sheppard! You are under direct orders from the President to give yourself and your renegades up!"_

John laughed openly. "D'ya honestly think I'm gonna listen to him _now? _Maybe if he actually gave a damn about us I'd have considered it before saying no!"

Landry took a few moments to himself apparently, and his voice came through calmly. "_If you're going to send people through… go ahead… the Iris is open and we're waiting."_

Turning Woolsey around, John let him go. "One last thing…" John fished out a letter from his pocket and shoved it into Woolsey's jumpsuit. "Now… give that to General O'Neill and get the hell out of my home."

Woolsey kept calm, and turned around towards the gate. Above him in a perfect vantage point, Larrin pointed to John and gleefully got Laura and Chuck beside her to watch.

The Politician had only taken a single step towards the gate when the bottom of John's boot connected with his rear end. Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to scream _'No! THIS. IS. ATLANTIS!',_ but he certainly could appreciate the honor it was to kick Woolsey's ass 3 million light years away.

Chuck smiled and hit the pause button on the video camera in his hands.. "I'm totally sending that with the last group."

-----------------------------

"We've got just about everyone through the gate… only the medical staff and a few techs are left to go through."

Sam nodded and rubbed her hands together. "Guess this is it huh?"

Larrin nodded back and scoffed. "Doesn't feel real does it?"

A chuckle escaped Sam's mouth. "Not in the slightest…" Sam leaned back on the sofa and rubbed her face. "…Guess my job is done… don't really need me anymore."

Shaking her head, Larrin replied softly. "Are you kidding me? We're still gonna need to keep this place in one piece. A lot of my people don't _want_ to leave…" Sam opened her eyes wide. "I thought maybe once we were safe my people would wanna go back out into space… guess I was wrong. Almost two thousand want to stay and make Atlantis their home."

It was a little surprising, Sam knew that a few of the refugees wanted to stay, but the _Travelers?_ "Really?"

"Yep… and well… if we survive this, guess we're gonna have to work out some kind of agreement with your people who stay... you _are_ the ones who know how ot operate this stuff properly."

Blinking, Sam was dumbfounded. "Really? You… you mean that?"

Larrin nodded again and stretched her neck. "You think I wanna take over? Please… I've got enough issues keeping my people from going off their birth control and making sure they get _some _privacy on our ships… and _that's_ gonna bring a whole new shitstorm what with all this.. _space!_ Atlantis makes me… " She furrowed her brow and looked to the left, obviously trying to remember something. "Damn… what'd Sheppard call it? _Igoranfobick?_"

Sam snorted and rolled her eyes. "_Agora_phobic… Fear of wide open spaces."

Shrugging, Larrin pulled a bottle from her small pack on her hip. "Well I'm not _scared_, but I don't mind telling you that it's damned intimidating."

"Tell me about it… when I got sent here I…" Sam paused, very few people knew about this, and looking up to Larrin realized how much she was coming to trust this woman. "…I was pretty intimidated as well… as sad as this sounds… this is my first real command."

Larrin winced. "Ohh… really? Ouch." She fished into her pack and pulled out a soft bar of some sort. "Here… that should cheer you up,"

Sam raised an eyebrow as she looked at the strange foodstuff. "Am I supposed to eat this?"

"Yep… trust me, you'll feel _a lot_ better."

"It's not some kind of drug is it?"

Larrai shrugged around. "Sorta… You know Reyna right?" Sam nodded. "Yeah well… a long time ago my people started making this stuff to help cope with compartment sickness… I think Sheppard called it _closetphobia _or something. Anyways, it's made from some plants we grow. Reyna says it's our version of your chocolate."

Sam couldn't resist and started to laugh at the odd circumstances. "Chocolate?"

"That's what she said."

A few more laughs escaped Sam's mouth even as she covered it with her hand. This had gotten way too ludicrous. She looked over at Larrin and took a piece of the Traveler Chocolate facsimile. "At least that's one thing I won't have to leave behind..."

---------------------

"You're a pisspoor soldier Sheppard… but you're a hero and I'm going to make damn sure this never happens again."

John extended his hand and shook Colonel Caldwell's. "I _am_ sorry I'm taking your ship… if there were any chance it could make it back to Earth…"

Caldwell shrugged. "Wasn't the same… and from what I hear Phoenix is gonna need an experienced Commander."

Smiling, John shook his head. "Guess you don't regret not getting my job now do you?"

Caldwell took a second to look around the gate room, up at the control room and to the window where the sea was visible outside. He smiled ruefully and looked back at John. "See you around, Sheppard."

Without another word, he stepped through the puddle back to Earth. John had always wondered if there was any human left inside Caldwell's hardened military exterior… and the older Colonel had just proven John wrong.

---------------------------

"Oh you've got to be kidding me… there's no way?"

Jennifer shook her head and scratched her temple. "It's too big to fit…"

Ronon turned to her and snickered softly. Jennifer turned a shade of red darker but Sam standing beside her didn't notice. "Isn't there a smaller unit?"

Wincing again at the unintended double entendre, Jennifer shook her head. "No… and if we take him out he'll die in 2 days… probably less."

Sighing heavily, Sam looked to the man she'd never really known but knew by his amazing reputation. "It's not fair… it's not fair that he has to come with us because the damn stasis unit won't fit through the gate…"

"It's the only way he'll survive Sam… I've given Reyna all the information on Michael's database… she's twice as good as me at the science stuff so I have no doubt she'll be able to cure him… but it'll take time."

Sam winced hard, her skin stretching from the exhaustion. Her fist punched lightly on the ice like structure of the stasis pod chamber, Carson's face frozen inside. As if she didn't have enough guilt on her ocnscience. "… _Lord forgive me…"_

------------------------

"This is the last group General… Everyone else is staying and have given their letters of resignation in the files we've transmitted along with videos. I've instructed them to keep the stargate program secret… but I'm sure the IOA will want to take a look at them."

Landry sighed, and he looked up to Sam and John. He remained silent as Mr. Coolidge to his side spoke with tact amazingly. "Colonels… I have spoken to the IOA Supreme Council… we're willing to overlook several of your indiscretions. But this will only happen if you send two of the ZPM's your people have recovered leaving Atlantis submerged. We can dispatch Odyssey immediately to assist in defending the city."

Even if it wasn't too late, Sam and John both scoffed at the pathetic offer. "And the refugees? And the Travelers? What about them?"

Coolidge remained calm, his answer smooth. "We can discuss that in person. But attempting to run away with the city using a suicidal experiment that even the Ancients abandoned…"

It _was_ crazy, Lunacy even. But Sam and John simply looked to each other and nodded. John leaned in a bit and gave a menacing stare. "Listen to me you slimey son of a bitch… Unless you let me bring _everyone_ on this base through _right now_… you might as well just forget Atlantis ever existed." John took a breath then looked to Landry. "General… My only regret is breaking my oath. _Uno Ab Alto!_" He snapped a sharp salute.

Landry raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Surprisingly fitting words Sheppard…" He scoffed softly and looked to Coolidge, then to the screen. "Final Orders… You give anyone in your way hell..." Coolidge now lost his composure and looked to Landry in shock. "…Earth'll still be here… We'll be waiting."

Carter smiled and resisted gasping in joyous shock. Her time spent with Landry had evidently been well received. "Thank you sir… Keep Earth safe for us."

"Will do…" With that, Landry leaned forward ignoring the cries from Coolidge beside him. The last image was Coolidge turning red and Landry with a smile on his face.

The Gate shut down, and now the Renegades were alone on Atlantis with the Travelers and Refugees their only companions. Sam took a moment and turned to Chuck. "How much longer till the Asurans get here?"

A few taps of some controls, and the screen changed to a starmap. "2 hours out Ma-am… those Hives haven't moved either." He turned in his seat and sighed. "Want me to start a countdown?"

Sam winced and resisted chuckling. Her reply was emphatic _"No!_ God…" She rubbed her face and then looked to the room where the renegade leaders stood. "I'm guessing everything is already ready?"

Larrin nodded and switched the legs she had crossed as she sat on a console. "My ships are all prepped. We've released the physical grips on the piers and switched to Maglock. If they take too much damage they'll detach so if they blow up they won't take the city with em."

Marks was next. "Daedalus is at thirty percent. Hull's not worth speaking of but with a few generators hooked up I've got minimal engines and shields up for the most part. Plasma beams and cannons are down, might get one repaired in time. Railguns on manual and Nukes…" he sighed and scoffed softly. "I've got a small sun's worth… but it'll be useless if those Darts just intercept them."

Everyone nodded, and now Sam looked to Radek and Mila who both looked quite tired. "Any luck increasing the shielding?"

Mila shrugged and dropped her head onto Radek's shoulder. Most of the room were a little surprised by the personal move, but Radek didn't seem affected in the slightest. "Nothing worth mentioning…Raddy's done the numbers but if that Superhive shows up we're screwed big time."

Radek nodded in agreement and yawned as he took his glasses off to rub his face. "Yes… with extended shielding from Traveler Crafts and Daedalus… ninety percent of the city is covered with at least some shielding. The central tower can probably survive several barrages, but the 20 or so Traveler ships will only be able to absorb a limited amount of fire."

John sighed and added. "I'll try and use the drones to absorb incoming fire… I doubt the Hives will move close enough but you never know."

Larrin nodded and shook her head. "If you're right about the Asurans, I'm more worried they'll mop em up so fast we'll have to deal with _them _instead."

Shrugging, John seemed unafraid. "I doubt they'll shoot first. They want Atlantis because we have the control crystal to go to other Galaxies." He raised his eyebrows as if surprised at what he just said. "Uhh…"

Sam blinked a few times, then gave John a strange look. "Where did _that_ come from?"

It took them both a second to realize it, but John's sudden discomfort scared the others. "Uhh… look… the point is the Asurans are machines. They'll go for the Wraith before they'll go for us. If that Superhive shows up they'll _definitely_ go for it first." Getting up, suddenly feeling the need to be on his own, John nodded. "I'm gonna see how Ronon and his team are doing… call if you need anything."

John quickly scurried out amidst confused looks from his comrades. Marks furrowed his brow and leaned his head out to look at John walk away hurriedly. "What's up with the Colonel?"

Larrin could see right away that Sam knew, but decided to keep it quiet as John had refused to explain more than _'It's complicated...'_ to her. "Probably just a little unsettled…" she looked to Sam and shared a knowing glance. "…I think we all need to prepare. I'm going to make sure my people are okay." Without another word, Larrin left the control room.

That left Chuck, Marks, Radek, Mila and Sam standing there. Marks noticed Chuck wanting to stand and go as well, but he held back and turned back to the console ahead of him. Sam seemed unsettled, but she hid it well. "You're going to be on Daedalus?"

Marks saw she didn't want to talk about John, so he pushed it aside. "Yeah…Katana and a few travelers are gonna give me a hand. We'll need to feed off Atlantis's sensors since ours are fried though."

Radek poked Mila and she stretched her arms. "Come now… we must prepare hyperdrive generators for wormhole formation."

Mila yawned ang groaned dejectedly "Aww… it'll take 5 minutes… can't I take a nap…?"

Both chuckling and muttering scientific data to each other, the engineers left leaving Sam alone with Chuck. The Technician didn't say anything though, and as much as Sam wanted to go after John…. She knew to leave him alone with his pain for now.

--------------------------


	2. Chapter 2

"The hell happened to those two?"

Ronon shrugged and poked Dusty. "Dunno… _she_ won't tell me the whole story."

Dusty rolled her eyes and yawned. It had been a late night keeping Vega and Drake from killing each other and Sheppard was noticing the exhaustion and injuries on their faces as they slept on the couch with their heads resting against each other "_Nothing!_ I swear... but whoever thought up the ATF must have been crazy."

Raising an eyebrow, Daniel on the bed below deadpanned. "I know there's a joke there, but looking at those two I'm suddenly quite worried."

Dusty snickered and deadpanned back. "Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms _do not_ mix… those two are the proof."

She'd been sworn to secrecy, but seeing the drunken pair break into an armory and mess around with an M249 on a balcony shooting at whales passing by had been an odd sight. Her only consolation was having gotten footage of it to use later for… _nefarious _purposes.

Sheppard grimaced and kept his voice low. "They're not going to… _regret_ anything are they?"

Dusty caught on instantly and shook her head vehemently. "_No_…_!_ No sir… Even if they _wanted_ to they'd have been pretty useless. That slivovitz stuff the loot made really took em out… they've been out for almost 10 hours now."

Ronon chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Travelers had to stun them. Dragged em here and tossed em there to sleep it off."

Daniel chuckled and coughed from his injuries. "As if a hangover wasn't bad enough, that headache is gonna make em wish they _had_ done something to regret."

Dusty snorted at the thought, and motioned to Ronon. "I think it's time we woke them up… don't think they'll like waking up in a new galaxy."

John looked to Ronon and gave a silent nod. It was understood that John wanted a moment alone with Daniel. Ronon grunted and looked to Dusty. "You know I'm gonna make em pay for looking like such idiots?"

Smiling with an immature grin, Dusty nodded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

The two soldiers moved off, and Daniel looked to John with a knowing glare. "Something troubles you… I can feel the disturbance in the force…"

Raising his eyebrows in confusion, John muttered. "The hell did Reyna give you?"

Daniel laughed softly and shook his head. "Sorry… me an' Teyla got into this big discussion over Star Wars… Apparently you're a mix of Luke and Han."

John smiled and remembered having many such conversations with Teyla. "Oh? So I'm a dashing rogue who revived an ancient order?"

"More like a reluctant hero who's got a heart of gold and inspires his people." Daniel kept a sardonic grin that broke John's concentration.

John snorted and rolled his eyes. "And who're you? Yoda?"

"Obi-Wan actually… Teyla's got dibs on Yoda." The two men laughed for a minute, but then Daniel grew more serious. "John… you look like hell… _something's_ bothering you and for some strange reason you came to me… so yeah… I _do_ sense a disturbance in the force."

John took a deep calming breath. Sam had always said that Daniel could give her a useful opinion and help her to see things clearly. But it was something else that John know about Daniel that brought him here. "Yeah uhh… look… you… you were ascended for awhile right?"

"…Twice actually… Don't really remember too much…" Daniel's voice became sober, now wondering what John wanted. "If you're looking for the meaning of life then I'll save you some time… it's probably 42."

Daniel appeared to be a good mood despite his injuries and the situation, and John couldn't help but feel better just talking to him. "Ha… well… unfortunately I've got a more… _complicated_ problem." He took a second and lowered his voice. "You uhh… you know about Rodney right?"

Daniel nodded, his voice lowering as well. "Teyla… she told me about him…" He suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable and muttered. "uhh… you're not making some closet related admission… are you?"

John flinched at the suggestion. _That_ was definitely the last image he needed in his head given what had happened. "_No!_ Jeez… not on your _life_!" Thinking about what he was about to talk about though, a fear entered his head. "_At least I hope to __god__ not…"_

Now Daniel was the one who flinched. He'd been privy to many strange things, but this was suddenly becoming one of the most uncomfortable conversations ever. "Uhhh… okay… maybe you should start at the beginning."

Resetting his brain, John took another calming breath and sighed. "He… _Rodney_… he didn't die on Asuras."

Neither of them said anything, the admission was shocking and Daniel didn't know what to say. It took several seconds, but eventually Daniel decided to listen to everything before saying something. "I…see…"

"… only me and Sam know… we uhh… we found out when we went to Proculus…"

Durrowing his brow and deep in thought, Daniel suddenly put two and two together to get five. "Hmm… _wait_… you mean he…?" Eyes wide, Daniel gulped. "…_He ascended?"_

John shushed Daniel softly, obviously not wanting anyone else to figure it out. "Keep it down!" A moment passed, no one had heard. "…Yes… he… he escaped the replicators and…it's complicated but he ascended because he was tortured so badly it was the only way he could keep going." John winced, the memories were long gone but the feelings were still there. "You uhh… did you ever share yourself when you were ascended?"

Daniel shook his head, his throat suddenly constricting. "Not that I remember… you don't mean he…?"

Again shaking his head vehemently John held his hand up. _"No-no-no...!_ Well… no…_not exactly_… I uhh… I didn't want to let him go… so he showed me what he felt… so I could understand. It was _not_ sharing… I _know_ what that's like and this was _not_ it…"

"…Uhhh wow… that's… _incredible_."

John shrugged and rubbed the sides of his nose. He only hoped Daniel would have something wise like Obi-Wan to say. "I'm came here because you're the only person I know who might understand… Sam trusts you with her life and I trust Sam…"

"Okay…"

"…I… I don't know if what I'm feeling is me or…_him."_

Daniel had an inkling of what John was talking about. He knew not to touch that issue with anything less than a 10 foot pole. "Uhh… _yikes_… uhh.. wow that's quite a problem there."

John groaned and rubbed his face. "Yer telling me." He waited a few seconds to let the man digest the information before continuing. "I… I'm _really_ freaking confused. And I was hoping you might have some kind of answer…"

"You mean… whether you're still…_you?"_

Nodding desperately John spat out. _"Yeah!"_

Daniel tried to come up with something sagely and worthy of the great Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to give his new Padawan the assurance he needed.

The only problem was the lack of real knowledge. "Well… ever since I… _came back_… I've uhh… well in my dreams mostly I might remember a glimpse… a feeling… sort of like looking at the shadow of something… you can kinda make it out but it's not in great detail or anything."

Feeling uncomfortable, John gulped. "Okay…. That's… not _exactly_ encouraging."

"Look… I'm not even going to _pretend_ I know about what happened to you… it's only been a few days… I think you might need to wait a little longer before you do anything…_rash._" Without specifically saying it, Daniel used his 10-foot pole to nudge John the way he thought would keep things… _civil_.

John for that matter understood right away. "Right… time… time… too bad we've got less than 2 hours 'fore the shit hits the fan."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Oh gee so the real party hasn't even started yet?"

Both men chuckled at the thought. John blew a long sigh and realized that Daniel was right. "Sure there isn't a little Jedi in ya?"

A shrug was Daniel's only reply.

John nodded idly as he realized what he had to do. Taking a long deep breath, he looked down to Daniel. "Thanks… Guess Sam was right."

Daniel opened his eyes wide. "What'd she tell you?"

Deciding to follow through with his thoughts, John pushed all confusion aside and focused on what he knew. "Something about us having alien women in common."

It took a few seconds for Daniel to get the joke, but soon enough his chest hurt from the guffaws.

--------------------

"So…. Do you remember anything?"

Alicia groaned softly and held her head in one hand, her left butt cheek in the other. The Particle Magnum on her hip bounced as she moved forward with Dusty. "All I remember is a lot of shooting and a sharp ass pain." She rubbed said part of her and looked accusingly at Dusty. "How'd the hell'd I bruise my ass?"

Dusty snickered and patted her friend on the shoulder as she helped her move to their assigned positions guarding the refugees. Alicia looked like she'd picked a fight with a bottle of tequila and lost "I think that's when you dared Drake to try and kick your ass and he won."

Scoffing, Alicia pouted and kept rubbing the bruise. "And him?"

Dusty chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You kicked his ass, but this was after you called him _assface_."

----------------------

"You like her?"

Drake held the steak to his face and shook his head. "Yes… no… fuck I dunno."

Ronon chuckled and kept pushing Drake forward. He'd assigned his two subordinates different positions on opposite sides of the refugee tower to keep them focused. "Sounds about right."

Drake chuckled and groaned as he took the steak off his face. The fist shaped bruise covering his left eye and stitches on his eyebrow told him it had been an interesting night. "Dusty tell you how I got this?"

"You kicked Vega in the ass; she waited till you weren't looking and put you down. She's got a hell of right hook according to Dusty."

Drake put the steak back on his face and sighed. "I can tell."

-------------------------

"So you gonna tell me what's up or should I just guess?"

John leaned back on the control chair and ran diagnostics. He'd gotten used to the feeling of the wormhole drive and now he was just preparing. "Larrin…"

"No I'm serious." Larrin sat across from him in the solitary room. "We're all counting on you and if you've got a problem I wanna help,"

John leaned forward on the chair and deactivated it. He'd pushed everything aside… but Larrin's offer to listen to him seemed genuine. "… It's complicated."

"You said that already… if you don't want to tell me then just say so." Larrin seemed a little angered. Whether righteous or not John felt bad over it. "You said you cared about us… well some of us care about you too."

With that, Larrin got up and shaking her head idly began to walk away. John dropped his head and called out to her. "Larrin…"

The Traveler woman stopped at the threshold of the door and narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not trying to be your crying post… but if I know what's bothering you…. Maybe you won't worry about it as much."

John stared back at her, and after a moment motioned her to come closer. "… you uhh… you remember Rodney?"

------------------------

"Everything's ready, Daedalus reports systems are at thirty five percent and all the Traveler Ships report ready as well."

Sam nodded, it was just about crunch time and any minute now the Asurans would arrive in the system. "Status on the Hives?"

Chuck tapped a few controls and sighed. "Still no change. They're holding position. Looks like they're gonna wait for us to make the first move."

Patience… patience was the key…

Unfortunately not to Sam's door. She tapped her headset and did a city wide announcement. "Attention… this is Colonel Samantha Carter… any minute now, we will be entering a combat zone. Our plan is to use the distraction offered to us by the arrival of the Asuran Replicators to charge up our wormhole drive and escape both the Wraith and Replicators…"

Sam hadn't intended to make a speech, but seeing as there was still time, she said what was on her mind. "…I would like to take this opportunity to commend those of you who remain from the expedition… we're taking the biggest risk I've ever encountered in my career and you should all know I am _very_ proud of you."

Still nothing, the Asurans seemed to be taking their sweet time. "No matter what happens in the next few minutes… I want you all to know that this is the right thing to do… Our government back home has grown complacent… and we're being forced to pay the price."

A contact began to blink on the sensors, then another… and then another. "The war for Pegasus might be lost… but our battle is just beginning… I trust you all to do your duty and reaffirm my belief in you… Thank you." Sam shut off the city wide and went back to the command frequency. "I trust I don't have to tell you guys?"

"_I see em… Auroras and Cruisers… They're on the far side of the system and moving towards the denser pack of Hives." _John's voice was surprisingly calm. There was enough firepower out there now to flatten planets.

Major Mark's voice came in calm as well, another seasoned soldier. _"We've gotten one of our Dorsal plasma beam cannons repaired. Only a few shots before it burns out but it'll be a nice surprise. Nukes are all armed as well and loaded. We're as ready as we'll ever be."_

Now Larrin's voice came in, and Sam knew the time had come. _"My security and what's left of your crew are keeping the refugees calm. Reyna's ready for casualties if it happens"_

One last check…. "Dr Zelenka…are we ready?"

A moment to wait and Radek's voice came in clear. "_We are ready Colonel Carter. Colonel Sheppard may launch us at will."_

Sam looked over to Chuck and took a deep breath. "Showtime… John?"

"_I heard…" _His voice was crystal clear, a clarity Sam wished she could share. "_Hold on folks… this is gonna get a little rough."_

Instantly the city shook slightly, and Sam could see the water line outside the window begin to rise. Sam couldn't help but muse. "That's a new one…"

Chuck's hands flew across the console manually controlling every aspect of the power grid. With the Wormhole Drive online, he had to manuall redirect power to specific systems to keep them from browning out. "Third time here!"

--------------------------

Laura had to admit; of all the duties she could have pulled this was certainly one of the nicer ones. "Ella! Give me all the juice you got!"

Rafaela resisted rolling her eyes. Granted it wasn't everyday she slaved 4 railgun batteries to a single system but with the Travelers controlling 2 other stations, the city had a decent defense against fighters when the shield dropped. "Alright! Naquadah generator online! You've got power!"

Laura yanked the receiver on the railgun battery she manned (or _wo_manned) and yelled. "Yeee_aahh! Come get some you goddamned leeches!"_

A small fear now entered Rafaela's mind… would Laura be doing this all the time in the new galaxy?

---------------------------

Teyla held Torren Rodney for the first time… and deep in her mind the worry that it might be the last time refused to go. She sat next to Daniel who had 'convinced' Reyna to bring him a headset and laptop so they could keep aware of what was going on. He kept one hand on Teyla's, silently reassuring her.

------------------------------

"Breaking water in 3-2-1…" Chuck watched through the window as the water receded off the shields and his heartbeat quickened. "We're clear! Orbit in 4 minutes at present speed!"

Sam kept one hand on the railing and watched. There just wasn't anything she could do anymore… she felt so useless at this point… But she had to remain strong. Inspire those following her and John to survive this. "Hives and Asurans?"

Chuck brought up the sensor data, The images were gratifying. "Shooting the hell out of each other ma-am… but we've got 4 cruisers moving in on us at top speed and launching Darts. They'll intercept us before we reach orbit."

Sam nodded and tapped her headset. "John… you know what to do." It was almost like clockwork. Sam _knew_ John would get what she meant.

"_Copy… 2 minutes to maximum range… time to give those plasma batteries a whirl."_

Sam tried to think of _something_ she could do. Anything would be better than standing here waiting for lonely salvation or untimely death. "Chuck… I'm going to the Chair Room. Control room is yours."

It wasn't the first time Chuck had been in control here, but the weight on the moment threatened to crush his ego. "Uhh… _okay_…"

Sam was gone before he finished the fractured sentence, Only a few Traveler techs remained keeping a watchful eye on things.

------------------

"What are they doing? Even 50 Cruisers couldn't take the city on."

Radek tried to block out Mila's musing. The one thing he hadn't learned to deal with was her constant muttering and he realized that he did the same on occasion. "I don't know… but we must make the final connections. Wormhole Drive will be ready to soak up the charge as soon as we're in stable orbit."

Mila went to the ZPM console and did a last minute check on their power levels. "ZPM's are at full output readiness… it'll take about half of what we've got to make the jump… hope the generators don't fry."

Radek shuddered, the thought of subspace collapsing in on itself was _not_ a pleasant one. "Let's hope that does not happen then… bring plasma batteries online. Colonel Sheppard will be needing them momentarily."

------------------------

A drone had no sentience or even intelligence. A mental interface and wireless transceiver was all it needed. The rest of the unit was purely destructive.

It was the oddest feeling to John, seeing through the 'eyes' of a Drone as it launched from the city. It was oddly liberating.

Floating up past the city's many towers, spinning lazily heading for the inner surface of Atlantis's shields. Shields that could repel even the strongest blasts, but could allow anything one desired through harmlessly.

The shield buzzed past quickly, and John pulled the drone into a tighter spin. A squadron of Darts were preparing to Kamikaze, and John figured the less energy Atlantis had to expend the better.

The Drone tore through the nose of the first Dart like an F-302 through the clouds back on Earth. John swung the drone around and tore the engine off the second, then evicerated a third all with one still blazing drone.

The spinning motion shattered the formation and the broken pieces of the Darts bounced against Atlantis's shields harmlessly. The first Cruiser was now barely within range.

The Drones had a _very_ long range, and John put them to work. He shaped a drill in his mind and the leading drone he controlled was the very tip while the ones behind spun in tight arcs.

The Cruiser didn't even bother to try and dodge, it flew straight into the barrage and was shredded like a paper target hit with a shotgun. Secondary explosions tore the organic armor apart, and several of the Drones were fully destroyed in the blast.

A few survived though, and John switched them to Auto-Track mode to engage more Darts. Time for the second barrage.

John hardly noticed Sam enter the room, quickly moving over to where she turned on a console with the graphical combat zone in full 3d hologram. "Major Marks!"

Having heard her bark the order, John momentarily broke concentration and looked at her. He stole a single second to think about what he was going to do, then retuned to the barrage.

Major Marks' voice came in like steel. _"We're ready for shields down Ma-am! Plasma beam ready for use and raliguns are loaded."_

"Copy that! Target Darts that try and make it through the Drone barrage! They'll try and land troops or kamikaze our power grid!"

Sam watched as the second cruiser was turned into a sieve, flames and smoke bellowing from it's exposed inner hull. The other two cruisers were in range now and fired everything they had.

That's when a new signature came into the sensor readings, and Sam's throat constricted. _"Oh sweet god…"_

---------------------------

"My lord! The Asurans have formed a phalanx and tear through our allies! They are targeting us now!"

Todd sat in his chair, one arm clutching the armrest tightly. "Ignore them… Atlantis is our target. Do _not_ let them escape."

The sub-commander turned and hissed. "The Asurans have a significant force,,, they could pose a serious threat and we lose more Hives every second."

Todd scoffed and motioned with his head. "Less need to share food… unless you wish to go hungry."

Point taken, the Sub-commander followed orders. "Yes my Lord… Weapons range of Atlantis in 2 minutes."

--------------------

John winced as the third cruiser slammed into the shields. He'd seen _Darts_ do that before, but _never_ capital ships. "They _really _don't want us to leave!"

Sam noted that they were almost in a stable orbit and the wormhole drive would need to be engaged soon. "John… start up the wormhole drive…"

The situation was dire, the fourth cruiser was badly damaged and soon to be destroyed, but almost a hundred and fifty darts still circled around Atlantis firing vainly against its powerful shielding. John considered warning Sam that it would drop the shield, but knew it was another of those hard decisions Sam was capable of… something he admired. Wordlessly, John nodded and accessed the system.

--------------------------

"Ho'kay! Here we go… give me targeting data Ella!"

Rafaela wasn't too keen on Laura's nickname for her, but it was better than nothing. "Shields are dropping… here's out weakest defensive spot. The opposite side of where Daedalus is!"

As if summoned, a blinding blue light spat out of the craft and vaporized a dozen darts in the way as it burned through the Cruiser's armor and detonated the reactor inside. Shrapnel and debris rained down, some hitting the shield of Atlantis, and more hitting the now active shields of the Traveler Ships and Daedalus on the piers.

The shields wouldn't stop the Railgun shots thankfully, and Laura tried to calm her already machine gun fast heartbeat. "Alright…. Alright… this is just a really really expensive duck hunt…"

Rafaela took her position at the computer console next to Laura and began to feed targeting info to her. "What? Duck hunt?"

Laura shrugged and flicked the red safety latches off the thumb triggers. "Yeah you know? Old Nintendo? The light gun and that annoying dog?"

Rafaela just blinked in confusion.

---------------------------------

"God I hate this part… Give me a SCAR and a dozen badguys and I'm cool… I hate these space battles."

Dusty moved over and locked the doors to the refugee area. It was unlikely they'd be able to break them down or override it, but it was still necessary. "You're telling me… remember MH5-351?"

Alicia grimaced as she recalled the planet. "Barely made it through the gate… Took 4 stingers to take down that Ori Fighter."

Dusty nodded and gripped her particle magnum tighter. "I'd kill for a couple ICBMs right about now…"

------------------------

Sam's jaw dropped in horror… the numbers didn't lie. "That Superhive is going to be in weapons range in 2 minutes... how much…"

John cursed silently and bowed his head. "too much…" he thought for a second before screaming. "Radek! I need more power to the Wormhole Drive! We're not gonna make it out before that Superhive gets close enough!"

The city rocked from side to side, Sam turned on the cameras and gasped at the visual. The Traveler ships fired their particle cannons, the 3 hastily constructed Railgun batteries fired sheets of hot tungsten blanketing the city, even the Plasma towers tried to hit the nimble Dart Fighter craft. But she was right and saw several sections begin to take damage from the Dart's cannons and kamikaze runs. "Keep up the fire! They're targeting the main power conduits!"

It didn't matter, and Radek now made it clear. "_Colonel! You __must__ avoid the Superhive's fire! Any more strain on the shields will lower potential power and expose the refugee tower to space!"_

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, and John screamed back. "If I turn the sublights on the drive'll take longer! We need to slow that Hive down!"

Sam watched on the screen as the Asurans finally finished the regular Wraith Hives and left nothing but shattered husks. They now moved towards the Superhive with surprising speed. "The Asurans are moving on the hive! They might be able to…"

Of all people, Major Marks came in with a solemn voice. "_… I'll do it…! Daedalus has enough nukes to take that Hive out…Just gotta get close enough."_

John muttered, only about a minute and fifteen seconds left before the Hive was in range. "How the hell you plan on doing that?!"

"_I'm gonna ram this ship down that cocksucker's throat."_

For 5 seconds, nobody said anything, shocked by either the normally calm man's words or intetions was unknown. Sam noted the engines on the Daedalus begin to warm up and had to speak. "Kevin… you'll never survive."

"_But you guys will… and that's enough."_

Radek's voice came in now, even as Sam watched the first hailstorm of plasma and drones rain on the Hive from the Asuran fleet. "_It might work… the Hive will likely survive the explosion, but it would certainly buy us the…."_ A sudden shake of the city cut into the com frequency, and a shrill scream came over the com. _"…Mila? __Mila! __Ach má bůh! MILA! Ne ne ne! JÁ potřebovat pomoci! JEDEN Doktor! I need Medic! Mila is hurt! Doctor!"_

Instantly Larrin's voice cut through everything else. "_I'm coming! Hang on!"_

Sam could see John closing his eyes and concentrating, whether it was to block out the sudden horror or to input the wormhole drive coordinates she couldn't tell.

And then it didn't matter.

------------------------------

Laura had a great vantage point, and already she'd racked up more kills than her entire career before. Her arms trickled with sweat and were sore from swinging around in the turreted seat. Rafaela had on more than one occasion had to wipe her brow to keep her eyes clear.

She had all the information everyone else had, so she assumed it would be another minute before the Hive came into range… and that's when she saw the large globes of blue plasma fire come from the front cannons, 6 shots in total.

-----------------------------

Sam forgot all about the chair room. She wanted to see it for herself and flat out ran to the nearest balcony. Screams and unintelligible cursing riddled the headset and she pulled it off, holding it in her hand.

The balcony was empty, but the skies above Atlantis weren't, Darts still flew around trying to inflict damage and some succeeded, but all Sam could see were the 6 nearing globes of supercharged plasma contrasted against the black of space.

There were five thousand people in the refugee tower… a mix of Travelers and Pegasus natives… all about to be exposed to the vacuum of space when those shots hit the Atlantis shield.

Sam knew that fear… the fear of being exposed to the unimaginable vastness of space. It chilled her to the core and she gripped the railing with all her might.

----------------------

John closed his eyes and repressed his sob, there was nothing he could do. If he pulsed the sublights that would add more time to the wormhole drive… more time for the hive to shoot at them…. More time for the Asurans to get close.

Maybe two thousand people were on the Traveler ships and in the main tower which would remain shielded…. Only two thousand out of almost seven… John couldn't even begin to fathom how five thousand people could die all of sudden.

'_Not like this…please god… not like this…"_

He considered using the Drones to try and absorb the hits, but knew it was futile. All he could do is pray that when the bolts hit, that…

His eyes grew wide and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the bolts, no more than one hundred feet away from the city's shield suddenly slow and come to complete halt in space. They floated there like mini blue suns, the energy flowing like one of those plasma orbs in science museums he'd been to when he was younger.

The realization struck him like a lightning bolt. _"Rod…"_

--------------------------

"…_ney…"_

Sam took it in, the orbs were so close she could almost reach out and touch them with her bare fingers, She had seen this before… a sudden freezing, a moment in time where physics just didn't apply anymore.

Filled with sudden hope, she put her headset back on and screeched. "_MARKS! Do __not__ take off! Do __not__ take off!"_

No response, but the ship on the pier below remained sitting despite having its thrusters activated. Sam pushed off the railing and bolted back to the chair room praying that this wasn't a false miracle.

------------------------

"_WHAT?!"_

The Sub-commander was equally shocked. "Our shots has frozen in space! _I-I… I do not understand!_"

Todd lunged out of his seat and backhanded the Sub-commander away from the weapons console, The recently fed Wraith's strike so powerful that the sub-commander flew into the wall and groaned from the strike.

Keying in a full barrage, every cannon on the Hive that had a proper shot on the city of the Ancestors charged and fired it's lethal rounds.

The Sub-commander groaned as he got up, and stood behind Todd watching on the screen as more than 20 Supercharged Plasma bolts, enough to turn a continent into glass flew towards the city.

And like some kind of scientific anomaly, they too froze barely a hundred feet from the shields of the city.

------------------------------

"_Mila…__Vytrvat. být příjemný tebe mít zavázat k dále. you're do téže míry jeden sestra až k mne. tebe musit přežít být příjemný."_

Larrin didn't understand a word of what Radkek was saying, but seeing the way he carried the unconscious electrocuted young woman and the tears flowing from his eyes knew that it had to have been emotional.

Reyna along with two other Traveler Medics were right on her heels, quickly taking Mila and doing a quick check. Larrin fought back her own tears and grabbed Radek by the collar. "Is the Wormhole Drive ready?!"

Radek didn't say anything, still catatonic. Larrin screamed again. "Doctor! Is the Drive ready?!"

Seeing that Radek was too traumatized from seeing Mila take such a grievous blow, Larrin silently cursed herself and slapped Radek hard across the cheek.

Snapping out of his fugue, Radek looked to Larrin. "… Drive… Yes… One last…"

Stumbling backwards, his glasses missing and hair all over the place, Radek leaned over the console and monitored the now forming subspace aperture above the city.

He recalled what Sam had told him, and ran his program to compensate for subspace turbulence. He would have never thought to check as the regular hyperdrives didn't warp subspace enough for turbulence to be much of a problem… but at the levels of folding and warping they were doing, if they didn't compensate the city's inertial dampeners and shielding, it would atomize the city upon contact with the aperture.

Radek would have to ask Sam where she got the concept… after he'd made sure Mila was okay.

------------------------

John's pulse fired like a rifle on full automatic, The giant blue ripples in space forming above them was oddly entrancing. Almost as beautiful as the now 50 plasma bolts at station keeping one hundred feet away from the city… giving them a clear path to the subspace rift.

He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even notice Sam until she stood next to him, one hand on his with their fingers interlaced. Only 24 seconds remained for the city to enter the rift.

They looked at each other, both knowing damn well that they were alive because of the gift of a true friend.

15 seconds, and John slowly eased the city into the blue rift.

With only 7 seconds left, John turned on the citywide communications and softly mumbled. "_Into the breach… meatbags."_

_-------------------------------_

Todd didn't scream, he didn't howl, he didn't even feel rage over what he'd just seen.

The almost 60 plasma shots were complete misses, and as soon as their trajectory wouldn't hit Atlantis they continued without any signs that they had been stopped. Most flew into the atmosphere of the planet, boiling the oceans and glassing the continents.

"My lord… Atlantis has escaped."

The urge to simply turn around and feed on his ignorantly obvious sub-commander was great, but Todd knew better than to draw the wrath of his own crew. "…Target the Asurans… leave none active…"

The Sub-Commander hesitated, his lips moving slowly. "And after?"

Todd took a few moments to think, the choice he had was clear… Survive as he'd always done… or die. "Have our remaining Darts salvage what we can of the destroyed hives."

"Salvage…?"

Scoffing, Todd finally showed a little of his ire and sheer determination to survive. "We will need… _supplies."_

The Sub-Commander's throat constricted in horror. Survival was suddenly not so appealing.

----------------------------


	3. Chapter 3

"General… I must admit I'm surprised you agreed to see me."

Jack pulled the seat out with his foot and sat down lazily. He'd gone over every report from what was being called the 'loyalist' Atlantis crew and they all said the same thing. "You really piss me off sometimes you know that?"

Woolsey sighed and took his glasses off. The little tea shop he'd chosen for this meeting wasn't out of a misplaced sense of camaraderie. "I understand that General… Seems I have the habit of sticking my nose in places I really shouldn't."

Jack cocked his head and gave him a shit-eating grin. "No _ya think?"_

A waitress came up with a pad and a cheerful smile. The candle on the table seemed to flicker in her blue eyes. "Afternoon Sirs! My name's Wendy and I'll be your host today! Is there anything I can get you guys to drink while you make your order?"

Woolsey hesitated a second, then looked to her. "Coffee, 1 cream, 2 sweetener."

Wendy's smile seemed unending, and as she turned to Jack he couldn't help but feel the urge to suddenly claim he was diabetic. "And you sir?"

'_Sir…Ha…' _"Coffee, black…" It was horrible for him, but he needed a stiffener and it wasn't five o'clock yet. "…and please… call me Jack."

Wendy cocked her head and smiled warmly to him. Jack's infectious and cute smile always had this effect and Woolsey seemed a little disturbed. "Okay! I'll be back in a few with your coffee… Jack."

'_If only getting them to call me Jack was always this easy.' _"I'll be waiting!" His sing song tone hid Jack's melancholy well. Woolsey remained impassive though it was clear he was surprised.

The politician suddenly became a little downcast, and he sighed. "I agree with them you know… but I had my orders."

Jack snorted derisively. "So did they… and look what happened."

Neither man said anything for a few moments, and Jack noticed the odd glares from around the room. It wasn't often that a dress uniform General and a sharp looking politician in a tuxedo sat together at a tea shop. "We still don't know exactly what happened… while the IOA is assuming the city was lost to the Wraith or Asurans, the Air Force is confident though that Colonel Carter and Sheppard would activate the self-destruct before allowing that to happen."

Jack drummed his fingers on the table, a quiet sign of his frustration. "They made it… wherever they're going."

"If you mean the supposed 'Wormhole' Drive, our top scientists assure us such a technology cannot exist…" Woolsey quieted a moment and spoke quietly. "…I'm not so sure."

Jack looked up at Woolsey and began to reconsider his options. Were his life a George Lucas film, he'd shoot Woolsey thereby avoiding getting hit by the Politician's own fire. Of course, it would then get edited many years later to make Woolsey miss the first shot, then Jack would retaliate. He was glad they'd changed it back for the latest version he'd gotten Teal'c. "What makes you say that?"

Before he could say anything, Wendy came back with a tray alongside their coffees. "Here we go sirs… One Coffee 1 cream 2 sweetener…" She turned to Jack and smiled as she picked up his mug. "One Coffee, Black. And…" Wendy then pulled a tray she'd hidden in the cart she'd brought. "On the house, tray of biscotti for our men in Dress Blues, sir"

Woolsey raised his eyebrows mildly surprised, Jack simply smiled back and looked at Wendy thoughtfully. "Oh? That's a nice change from what I usually get around these parts… What's the special occasion?"

"None sir… Just house rules." Wendy seemed a little nervous, a bit of a change from her former state.

Jack latched onto it instantly. "You keep calling me Sir... you enlisted?"

Wendy blushed slightly, and after a moment's hesitation nodded. "…Yes sir… Air Force Reserves… I'm studying avionics and high temperature and reactive materials and start an internship at Andrews in the fall."

Jack furrowed his brow clearly amused. "So you wanna fly _and_ blow stuff up huh?"

The young woman nodded and smiled. "Can't bus tables my whole life, sir."

A moment passed, and Jack kept his voice quietly amused. "Not trying to bribe an old general are we?"

Wendy smiled, and it was completely devoid of shame. "No sir, this airman would never think to stoop so low."

Woolsey remained quiet, simply watching the tete-a-tete in amusement.

"Sooo… what marks you getting in boom boom class?"

The young woman stifled a laugh, and shrugged a little bashful. "Straight A's sir, I want to be the best."

Woolsey could see where this was going, and resisted rolling his eyes.

Jack continued unabashedly. "Hmm alright… I'm a little busy now but I'll come find you once I'm done here… no explosives expert should be bussing tables with cake on them…" Realizing he hadn't ordered yet, Jack smirked deviously. "… on that note… I'll have a slice of white chocolate cheesecake with your service number on the napkin."

The excitement obvious, Wendy nodded and quickly scribbled down his order. "Yes sir! Right away!" She turned to Woolsey and smiled as well. "And for you sir?"

Woolsey straightened his tie and deadpanned. "Just the coffee, thank you."

The woman quickly excused herself and scurried away, Jack could almost swear she did a little jump for joy as she entered the kitchen several meters away and _'woo-hoo'_ed_._

Woolsey was blunt to say the least. "Do you always do your hiring in tea shops?"

Jack shrugged. "I've learned the hard way not to miss opportunities." It had a tone of finality to it, and Woolsey didn't press him. Jack continued with their former conversation. "You were about to answer why you think they made it."

Sighing, Woolsey opened his briefcase. "In all honesty, it's just a feeling… but I have something for you."

As Woolsey opened his briefcase, Jack muttered. "You? _Feeling_? My _god_… you _are_ human."

Rolling his eyes, Woolsey pulled out the letter John had given him. "This is a letter addressed to you General… from Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard. He gave it to me right before I was sent back."

Suddenly smirking, Jack deadpanned. "You mean before he booted your ass off the city… literally."

Woolsey groaned softly and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Oh… you've seen the video."

Jack smiled and nodded as he accepted the letter. He noted that it was unopened. "The IOA hasn't read this?" He furrowed his brow, now confused.

Woolsey shook his head and became pensive. "I… I assumed it was likely something personal. I don't think the IOA needs to read our personal correspondence…"

Jack looked at Woolsey and could see that he was really speaking between the lines. Jack nodded softly in agreement and opened the crumpled envelope. Inside was a formal USAF letterhead and some scribbling.

Sheppard's handwriting was decent, and formally addressed to '_Major General Jonathan O'Neill'_ from '_Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard'_.

There were only two things on the entire page…

"_I'm Sorry._

15h 17m 14.4s

21° 35′ 08″"

Jack recognized them instantly as stellar coordinates, with declination and right ascension, and even more… Jack recognized what they marked. It was one of his favorite things to look at in the night sky on top of his cabin, and he realized just how unlikely it would be to ever see them again. "General… are you alright?"

Jack snapped back to reality, it had been at least 20 seconds he'd been tranced out and Woolsey got worried. "Huh?"

"You… spaced out for a minute there… Imporant news?"

Jack took a few calming breaths, his mind instantly going encyclopedic and his mouth on automatic. _"Six hundred million…"_ Seeing Woolsey suddenly eye him worriedly, Jack crimpled up the letter and put it over the candle burning it from existence. "You were right… it _was_ personal. And you were right again… the IOA didn't need to know… at least not yet."

Sheppard had trusted him… Something Jack hadn't expected. None of the other loyalist Atlantean personnel knew where they had supposedly gone… but Sheppard had trusted both Woolsey and him… Something that truly shocked Jack to the core.

Maybe it wouldn't be anytime soon… but someday Jack would tell them what the letter said… until then, he would have to get a stronger telescope. "Dick… take your politician hat off and tell me honestly… how do we fix the IOA?"

----------------------------

Sam shivered slightly as she stood on the balcony staring out at the ocean. The damage to the city was extensive, and the hyperdrives had been fried beyond a quick repair. The Wormhole Drive had worked, but blew so many conduits that it would be months before Atlantis was back to any semblance of normality.

Normal… Atlantis was six hundred million light years from its original home… A totally new and alien galaxy… Supposedly there was an Ancient outpost on the mainland somewhere to the south… but right now all Sam could think about was what she was going to do now that everything she'd ever known was out of reach.

The solar system they'd ended up in was sparse, only 3 planets and all of them gas giants. The outpost mentioned in the database was actually situated on the moon of the largest ringed planet, a beautiful Saturn style blue gas giant.

The moon itself was around Mars sized, so gravity was a little lower and Sam felt just mildly queasy. It would pass though, once the inertial dampeners were fully repaired.

Some footsteps behind her, and she instantly recognized John's heavy gait. "Hey."

John didn't say anything about her acknowledging him without even looking. "Hey."

They remained silent a minute, and John took a position next to her. "Cold… kinda strange huh?"

Sam nodded, and forced herself to think about the science and not the emotions in her head. "Yeah uhh…this moon's rotation is pretty crazy, the seasons change every few weeks and we're in the middle of winter now… Could be worse though."

"Oh?"

Seeing that John didn't want to talk much either, Sam continued. "Well… it could be an ice planet. Think Hoth from Star Wars."

John snorted, and a moment later put his arm around Sam drawing her close.

Sam closed her eyes and winced. She needed to get something off her chest. "John…" she turned her head to look at him. "…We can't tell anyone about… _Rodney_…"

It wasn't that they weren't sure it had been him that saved them, but with all the insanity of trying to repair Atlantis, dropping a bombshell like that would certainly confuse things. "Agreed… it'll just… make things difficult…" He sighed softly. "Just wish Jeannie knew…"

Sam smiled and patted John's hand on her shoulder. "She does… I uhh… I kinda added a little note to my letter to be given to Jeannie… She'll find out."

John was speechless, if he hadn't already decided to try and avoid awkward situations he'd have bear hugged Sam. "You're incredible… and I mean that in the nicest possible way."

The two of them chuckled a bit, and Sam suddenly receded into herself as she lowered her voice. "Yeah… welll.. actually.. I uhh… I wanted to umm… I mean… about… ... _us…_" She turned to John, the desperation on her face evident. "…I'm trying to say that… Well…"

John could see that Sam couldn't finish the sentence, but he knew what she wanted to say. "…Yeah…it's okay Sam… I need time too,"

"… I…I don't know what to do John… for the first time ever… I'm completely at a loss."

"…I think… The past few days have been…" John scoffed at his words. "…well.. you know what I mean…" With hand motions and head movements, John signaled that maybe they should be careful with any sort of.... _feelings_.

An awkward silence, and Sam replied softly. "I think that's for the best… we uhh,,. I mean… I need some space… and time…" she turned to John and squeezed his hand on her shoulder. "…It's just… " not able to think of the right words to say, Sam simply moved his hand from the intimate place on her shoulder to a more friendly place hugging her for warmth. "I need you to understand… last night…" a soft sigh, and John felt the melancholy in Sam. "Last night… it can't happen again… at least not… _now._"

John nodded, and could tell that Sam was pushing him away… but he _wanted_ to get pushed away… he needed time of his own to sort the confused mess of emotions and feelings within him. "…Yeah… yeah I getcha…. And I uhh… well I just wanna thank you… for everything… Atlantis is my home and… well you really did save me."

Sam took a deep breath, and resisted letting her tear ducts activate. "…I know it sounds weird… but I wanna thank you too…" She drew in a long breath through her nose, ostensibly hiding her sniffle. "…I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't worked out this whole plan … I don't think I could have lived knowing I abandoned this place.. or these people."

Before they could say anything else, a loud shrill voice cut the intimate moment apart. "Awww… _so cute!"_

Both John and Sam shirked their shoulders and turned, and as one, they did a double take as they saw Radek carrying Mila on his back towards them. Sam was the first to recover. "_Radek? Mila!?"_

The Traveler Girl sported a bandage on her head as well as various others on her arms. Radek smiled and carried the girl who was almost the same height as him as if she were now heavier than a small knapsack. "Aw don't worry about me, just a little numb is all."

Behind Radek, Larrin along with Laura stepped onto the balcony both smiling. "Yeah right, you're lucky Reyna was so close… don't you _ever_ do that again you hear?"

Laura laughed and elbowed Larrin playfully. "Aw come on… give the kid a break, she did save us all."

Mila became indignant even as Radek carried her around. "You're damn right! And who you calling _Kid?"_

The group laughed, and all of a sudden, their spirits rose with the cheerful news.

As if some kind of magnet were there, the majority of the other renegade expedition members suddenly appeared at the doorway. Dusty smiling with an arm around Alicia and another around Drake, both of whom looked rather tired, worn, and embarrassed. "Got room for us?"

John started to chuckle, this was getting to be a little melodramatic. "Sure! The more the merrier!"

Behind the soldiers, Ronon walked in next to Dr Esposito who looked like she didn't know whether to be excited or grief stricken. They all took positions by the balcony railing, watching in the distance as the horizon began to change. "Hey! What's that?"

Sam smiled, Mila's quickly recovering attitude was heartening. "It's the planet rise Mila… we're on a moon."

Dusty blew a bubble with her gum and it popped loudly. "Planet rise?"

Radek finally spoke and nodded. "Yes… as this is a moon, we will have both sunrises and planet rises. Sometimes only planet rises when it eclipses the sun."

Larrin shivered and rubbed her arms together. Her light leather clothing didn't do much against the col. She turned and looked back to the control room. "Chucky! Get your ass out here!"

Summoned, Chuck stuck his head out from the side of the door comically. "Hah?"

Waving him over, Chuck slowly stepped out onto the balcony where the rest of the renegades watched the slow and graceful planet rise. Larrin quickly and without a shred of shame, pulled Chuck close and wrapped his arms around her. "Come on! It's freezing!"

The group couldn't help but laugh at the blushing Canadian, Everybody was standing very close and sharing body heat when they heard a clickety clack sound.

Sam knew right away who it was, and waved them over. "Daniel! I'd kill you for getting up in the condition you're in but you've gotta see this!"

Teyla helped the Archeologist with one arm, and the other held her child close in a warm blanket. They took a position next to John and Sam and watched the horizon.

Everyone remained silent, watching the unreal way the gas giant in the distance rose inch by inch, the enormous ring now clearly visible in the dimly lit sky. It glowed with an eerie yet hauntingly beautiful blue sheen.

Of all people, it was Mila who spoke first. "It's beautiful..."

Ronon growled softly, his fists clenched as he watched. "Yeah…. It is."

The group stayed there for a few more moments, until Teyla finally spoke. "We should name this planet… or moon... if it is to be our new home."

Her words were both sobering and hopeful, something that the renegades took a few seconds to digest. Daniel then coughed as he replied. "Well… the Database called this outpost Eurynomestatis… bit of a mouthful."

Larrin smirked and pulled Chuck even closer, the Canadian shrugged and pressed his body close to her sharing their body heat. She shivered as she spoke loudly. "How bout we shorten it to _Yuri_? Doesn't sound too bad."

Radek chuckled and shook his head. "And name moon after first Russian in space? No… I could never take that name seriously."

The earth borne humans chuckled, and Laura spoke next. "How bout Yavin?" John, Sam, Chuck and Daniel all shot her disbelieving glances. "_Whaaat?_ I know the planet's not the right color and there's no Death Star… but it's better than _Yurimenadestatitics… _whatever."

Without some muted chuckling, the name was quickly vetoed, Sam then gave her opinion. "How about Ionia?" Most people gave her strange glances. "I'm thinking of the Ionian Islands where Odysseus was lost in the Iliad " She blew a stray strand of her hair from her eyes with a quick sigh. "_I_ certainly feel like Odysseus right now."

Drake made a disagreeing sound with his throat. "I dunno… Ionia sounds so… _Star Trek._' A few people laughed, but he remained calm.. "I don't suppose the database has any names?"

Radek grumbled slightly and spoke.. "Actually… database says Galaxy is called _Little-churos _. I have no clue what it means in Ancient… Dr Jackson?"

Daniel shrugged, Radek had completely massacred the language and with both Dr Esposito and Captain Vega giggling, knew they both must understand either Spanish. "I'd have to see what symbols it uses… but it sounds like _Litichoro_ which would mean "City of the Gods" or something to that effect."

Drake made a sound with his throat, then shrugged a bit. "It's still a mouthful… Sounds pretty weird too to be honest.."

Not too surprisingly, another pair of footsteps came in from the doorway. Major Marks and Katana Labrea were both there and wordlessly joined the group. The Balcony was packed now, but somehow everyone knew that it would end up like this if they survived.

Finally adding to the conversation, Dr Esposito spoke softly. "How about _Saudade?_"

Captain Vega instantly reacted, her posture drooping a bit at the mention of the word. Even Daniel seemed a little downcast. Larrin noticed immediately and furrowed her brow. "Sow-d_aa_d? What does it mean?"

Vega took a moment, then spoke quietly. "It's Portuguese… it's sort of untranslatable but… it means something like sadness."

Daniel cleared his throat, groaned in slight pain but then nodded. "Yeah… it uh… it's supposed to mean a longing… a sorrowful longing for something that you know you'll never really get… a few languages have words like that."

Every Earth born member of the group became very quiet; the only sound was the wind and waves crashing hundreds of feet below them. Even the Travelers and Pegasus natives among them were affected by the translation.

John finally took a stand, and he spoke with confidence. "Saudade… it's got my vote."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Mine too."

One by one, everyone in the group agreed with the name. The group then began to talk about the miraculous event of only about a day's past, with the frozen Wraith plasma shots. John ignored it and looked to Sam and whispered. "_What do you think we'll find out there?"_

Sam sighed softly, and her head leaned over onto John's shoulder. While the saying said that time healed all wounds, she questioned how much time she needed now. "_Guess we'll just have to find out the old fashioned way."_

----------------------The End...?-----------------------

_**Final Author's Notes**__: WHEW. That was a mission and a half. I've __never__ written this much so fast…. And even I'm surprised by the quality I was able to bring to the table._

_Then again, this story's been in my head for months. and I hope I did the characters justice with the situations and voices. I know the final scene is a bit of a cliché, but come on! The Canon Atlantis ended that way… why not mine? :P_

_**About Rodney**__… I know many people question why he was the only "main" character I "killed" off. It's not a dislike of the character as I actually love writing for him… and that was sorta the problem. It's too easy to fall back on Snark and technobabble to solve problems and inject humor…SGA basically became "the McKay show" in it's later years and i want to go back to the 'whole team' focus. _

_All this apart from the ACTUAL reasons which was really for two. One, I can't see him going with the cast to a new galaxy. By "Be All My Sins Remembered" Rodney has already patched things up with his sister back home and he's still "with" _

_Two, For him to survive the Asurans and end up back on Atlantis I think would be too traumatizing for him (and anyone really) and he's just end up going back to Earth anyway and never be the same. an ending that's just too dark for Stargate IMO. Characters do die, but killing him outright just didn't sit well with me and i think i worked out a plausible solution :D  
_

_I contemplated having him come back and staying with Katie on Earth… but I feel this gives the story more depth and does his character more justice though. Rodney really was a strong character in the show despite his shortcomings and I feel this is a proper 'ending' to his character (remember, he ascended, not dead) It also allowed the final "Miracle" scene which is confirmed as being Rodney._

_If there's any ambiguity about the renegades, here's a list of those on the balcony at the end._

_**-Colonel Samantha Carter**_

_**-Lt. Colonel John Sheppard**_

_**-Dr Daniel Jackson**_

_**-Teyla Emmagen**_

_**-Ronon Dex**_

_**-Sergeant Chuck Campbell**_

_**-Larrin**_

_**-Dr Radek Zelenka**_

_**-Dr Rafaela Esposito**_

_**-Captain(Lieutenant in Canon) Laura Cadman**_

_**-Captain Alicia Vega**_

_**-Lieutenant Dan Drake (OC)**_

_**-Sergeant Dusty Mehra**_

_**-Mila  
**_

_**-Major Kevin Marks**_

_**-Katana LaBrea**_

_Wow… that must be some strong balcony to hold that many people :P_

_Some things are left ambiguous, and it's done on purpose. The reason for this is I'm giving serious contemplation to writing a sequel to this fic in the form of a virtual series that would take place in this new galaxy which you can actually look up. _

_Hoag's Object is a real galaxy and about 600 million light years away. The math is real too and it __would__ take a 304 with a ZPM 2 years to get there if they never stopped on the way._

_The Following is a preview of what the new series would have. Those on Gateworld viewing the Universal Sin thread will have already seen this. If I do decide to go forward with the virtual series, make sure to check the Fanfic Folder on Gateworld for the below._

_**Stargate: Dark Frontier**_

_Stranded six hundred million light years from home, the renegade expedition members along with the Travelers and surviving Pegasus Natives have to survive in a strange and harsh new galaxy._

_Hoag's Object, an Atypical Ring Galaxy… but what exactly makes it Atypical is much stranger and darker than any human could have imagined. And a decision made eons ago has ramifications today on a galactic scale._

_**Dark Frontier would feature the following concepts:**_

_-A planned season styled story written in prose, with both arc episodes as well as filler stories. (As of writing this preview, the first seasons has been storyboarded with about half arc based episodes and half 'filler" adventure type stories. Some are obvious fillers, but others not so much...)  
_

_-Each episode would focus on a character(or pairing) while pushing the story ahead. An example would be how JJ Abrams "Lost" worked sans the flashbacks._

_- New races and technologies unheard of in Stargate. Focus on non-humanoid aliens, although there will be one human race._

_- A mixture of the classic Stargate genres, Humor, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction based on real science, as well as stronger focus on character interaction and development (Relationships from animosity to romance, but not a focus on it. Think of Rodney/Katie or Weir/Kavanaugh as examples in canon) _

_- A "real" lost in space story. Earth would have no involvement for the foreseeable future in this fic (Unlike SGA, Hoag's Object is really out of touch)_

_- Mild Crossover with SGU, both are separate stories._

_I'm still unsure whether I want to do this or not…. It's a big undertaking and I've got RL to worry about as well :P if any writers out there want to give me a hand with this (maybe write an episode or two or ten ;) ) I'll be much more likely to continue this :D_

_Thank you to everyone who's read this fic! I had oodles of fun writing it and probably got carpal tunnel I typed so much :P I hope I've done SGA Justice compared to the weak ending we were given and I've even managed to give the Wormhole drive a good backstory! Woo-hoo! No longer a Plothole drive!_

_Mwah! Mwah! I love you all! Reviewers get a Teaser of the Pilot Episode I have in mind (long as it's signed, Can't really reply to Anon reviews :P ) oh and virtual cookies :D _


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